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The UEFA Champions League league phase draw for the 2025–26 season has thrown up blockbuster clashes, with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain set to face both Bayern Munich and Barcelona in what promises to be a fiercely competitive group.
In a new league-phase format now in its second season, each of the 36 qualified teams will face eight different opponents between September 16 and January 28. The top eight in the standings will progress directly to the Round of 16, while teams ranked 9th to 24th will battle through knockout playoffs. The bottom 12 will be eliminated.
PSG, who lifted the trophy last season, find themselves in a challenging draw alongside Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Europa League holders Tottenham Hotspur, Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta, Sporting Lisbon, and Premier League side Newcastle United.
The French champions also face a repeat of their recent UEFA Super Cup clash with Tottenham, adding further intrigue to an already packed schedule.
Fifteen-time Champions League winners Real Madrid also face a formidable run. The Spanish giants will host Manchester City—whom they defeated in last season’s knockouts—and travel to Liverpool, where they lost 2–0 during the previous league phase.
Madrid’s draw also includes Juventus, Marseille, Monaco, and a daunting 6,420-kilometre trip to Kazakhstan to face Kairat Almaty, marking one of the longest journeys in Champions League history.
Bayern Munich will relive two recent Champions League finals—hosting Chelsea, who beat them in 2012, and visiting PSG, whom they defeated in 2020. Bayern also face a rare trip to Cyprus to take on tournament debutants Pafos FC.
Manchester City will travel north of the Arctic Circle to meet Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt and welcome back former fan favourite Kevin De Bruyne, now playing for Napoli.
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Inter Milan, twice finalists in the past three seasons, will face both Liverpool and Arsenal at the San Siro—both of whom finished top of the Premier League last season. Inter defeated Arsenal in Milan during last year’s campaign.
This season’s format includes some of the longest and coldest match locations ever seen in UEFA competition. Bodo/Glimt (Norway) and Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan) pose serious travel and climate challenges for visiting clubs, with Bodo’s matches set to be played on heated artificial turf.
Kairat will also host Club Brugge, Olympiakos, and Pafos, while being required to travel westward across four time zones to play Arsenal and Sporting Lisbon.
Other travel-heavy groups include Qarabag in Azerbaijan, who will host Chelsea, Eintracht Frankfurt, Ajax, and Copenhagen.
Four clubs will make their Champions League main-stage debut this season: Bodo/Glimt (Norway), Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan), Russian-owned Pafos FC (Cyprus), and Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise.
The computer-generated draw assigned each club two opponents from each of four seeding pots, based on their UEFA rankings from the past five seasons. The ceremony was conducted by retired superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović and former Ballon d’Or winner Kaká.
With powerhouses like PSG, Real Madrid, and Manchester City facing heavyweight opponents from the outset, this year’s league phase promises one of the most competitive group stages in recent memory.
